The Bureau of Meteorology constructed an automatic weather station (AWS) at Merriwa in late July. The real time data from this AWS is now available from the Bureau of Meteorology's website. This AWS forms part of the existing rainfall station of Merriwa (Roscommon).

The new AWS is a benefit to the Hunter and it helps to fill a large hole in the observational and climatic network. Besides rainfall observations, Merriwa and the surrounding areas has very limited observational and climatic records. The existing Merriwa (Roscommon) rainfall station first opened in 1969 and presently has over 35 years of rainfall data.